I'm sorry that you had to experience that. It's so unfortunate that so many feel that we all must be completely conformist, and deviation from the norm = bad. I dealt with this over the past year with a woman I thought was my friend. She challenged me over and over on how I schooled my daughter (her son is in PS), implying that I was pushing too hard as "kids need play-based education at this age". Why she felt entitled to weigh in on my educational decisions when I'd offered nothing but supportive comments about hers was beyond me. What pushed me over the edge was a situation similar to your library incident. She let me know that her son probed my daughter on her grade level, and wasn't happy with her response. "She told him that she's in 4th grade, and this makes him feel bad", she said (he's in 2nd -- they're the same age). The message I continually received was that I needed to get with the program and ensure that my daughter was at the same level as everyone else, so no one felt bad. If we really are to embrace differences in our society (a message I see continually trumpeted in the media), then children should be offered the same message that we're all a little different -- it's just a question of flavor. Your daughter shouldn't have to hide her light under a bushel to make others feel better about themselves. It sounds like she has a wonderful mother in you -- compassionate and concerned about her feelings as well as the feelings of others. I'm sure you're going to make her feel so good about herself and her strengths -- lucky girl! :)

I read 1 chapter aloud each day as a break between more intense classes (for example, between Math and Science). DD's always happy to have a break, and when given a choice between a read-aloud or math, I know which one she'll choose. I try to select books with action-oriented plots for classtime read-alouds. DD and I are usually both anxious to hear what happens next when read-aloud time rolls around!

We've had great success with CLE math. I love it! We were using K12's math through third grade. The year their materials were brought in line with Common Core, everything went downhill. The conceptual explanations were overwhelming. DD had no problem with the computation, but the requirement to work through the same problem in a multitude of convoluted ways became incredibly frustrating for her. And the amount of worksheets frequently made math lessons 90+ minutes. It was mastery-based as well, so concepts that hadn't been covered in weeks would be re-introduced and DD would have to learn them all over again from scratch. One day DD laid down on the floor in the middle of a lesson and moaned that she couldn't take it anymore. Flash forward to CLE. Since we've made the switch, math is painless! Each lesson takes DD about 40-45 minutes to complete. I work through the new material with her, and she completes the remainder of the review work independently. Her retention is excellent thanks to the spiral review, and introduction of new concepts is done so gently that I don't hear more complaints. The speed drills are another plus to ensure that basic math facts are computed as a brain-stem function at lightning speed. I love the practicality of CLE as well -- for example, including common conversions (number of feet in a mile, number of cups in a pint, etc.) in the lessons and speed drills and using real-life examples like baking to illustrate math concepts. I'm ready to do unpaid infomercials for CLE! ; )

I've been using NL Science for about 6 months with my 8 year old daughter. I'm so impressed. I love that my daughter's learning advanced scientific concepts now vs. waiting until middle or high school, and that they're introduced in an age-appropriate way with just the right amount of information per lesson. Each lesson takes about 20-30 minutes and the fact that it's scripted (I realize some find this oppressive, but I do not) comforts me -- I know no concepts are missed, and I don't need to prepare prior to a lesson. It's "open and go" as some on this board say. I'm using NL 3 and our current unit is covering the periodic table of the elements. My husband has a degree in chemical engineering and was so surprised (and thrilled) that elements, atoms, and compounds are being introduced in the elementary years. I can't say enough good things about Nancy Larson Science. What a find! Worth every penny.

Thank you so much! I just found this link and the chart with the reading. You're right -- it hasn't started at Lesson 3. It's really helpful to get an idea of what's coming to plan our time. Thanks again.

Thank you! I'll join this Yahoo group -- I imagine I'll find quite a few helpful suggestions there.

Hi there, My daughter just started the Veritas Press self-paced history course "Explorers to 1815". So far it's a hit. We ordered that flashcards and also the level 2 literature kit to accompany the course. DD completed lesson 3 today. So far, I can't see any reference to the literature, or recommendations for supplementary reading associated with each lesson. For those of you that have already used this course -- how did you use the supplementary books? (I'm planning to use them as read-alouds.) Is there somewhere in the course that says "for lessons 5-8, read x", or....? Just wondering where it's referenced. Thanks in advance for any pointers!

That was supposed to say "moved away", not "loved away". Fumble fingers!

I completely agree here. This year I loved away completely from a series of animated, online, entertaining materials and started using MP's core curriculum. I was impressed by the academic rigor but concerned about boredom as it's not overtly entertaining in the way we were used to. After a couple of months, I've let this go. My daughter still moans at times when we start class, but I think this is because it's obligatory, not because it's truly dull. If I made watching TV mandatory, she'd probably (after a few blissful weeks) moan about that too. She still lights up when she does well and I praise her, and shows satisfaction when answering questions. Although I'm not providing "fun", she's getting an education that meets her needs and at the end of the day I feel like that's enough to make a long term impact. I can't walk in your shoes and understand that everyone's situation is different. Just thought I'd share what's worked for us. : )

My daughter's 8 and she studied Spanish for about a year before we started Latin with Latina Christiana. Studying both at once (Latin each day, Spanish 3x/week) hasn't posed a problem for her -- in fact, the Spanish has helped her with her Latin and vice-versa. Best of luck to you!

We're using the Memoria Press literature guides this year for the first time. DD is currently working her way through Farmer Boy (part of the 3rd grade core curriculum). I've been quite impressed with the quality of the literature guides thus far. The "Reading Notes" section contains challenging vocabulary selections from each chapter (ex: "stanchion", "treadle", "bested") and asks students to provide a synonym or brief phrase to describe each word after seeing it in context. I love this -- it grounds the vocabulary and prevents the need for a separate vocabulary curriculum. DD has a pretty advanced vocabulary for her age and has been consistently challenged by the vocabulary in each lesson. The comprehension questions are thorough -- they may be unexciting, but they do the job of testing a student's recall/understanding of the chapter. DD's had to return to the text now and then to look up an answer, which I also like as it's reinforcing her scanning/research skills. As far as the "dry as dust" comment above, that hasn't been my impression as we've had pretty in-depth discussions working through the Discussion Questions section orally. The questions in this section require insight I only remember being asked of me in high school English classes. The fact that young students are challenged to probe the text as well as recall it has impressed me. On more than one occasion I've been a little stumped as to how to address the discussion questions -- fortunately, there's a section in the back with teacher prompts that I've used to spur our conversations along. Lastly, the amount of writing required in the literature guides is really improving my daughter's writing. The bar's been set higher now as she's required to answer each question with a full, well-written sentence vs. whizzing through with one-word responses. (This is true in other MP courses we're using as well, further reinforcing the expectations re: writing.)

We switched to CLE math a couple of years ago and have been thrilled with it. New material is gently introduced in a brief section at the beginning of each lesson, then the remainder of the lesson enables the student to work independently on reinforcement of prior concepts. Great spiral review, and very "get er done" as they say. I sit with DD for 2-3 minutes during the introductory material only, then she completes the rest of the lesson on her own. We used K12 math prior to CLE (we switched when 3rd grade Common Core math sucked all math joy out of my daughter, causing her to lay on the floor and moan), and the difference is like night and day. Straightforward lessons, great retention, lesson length is just right. I'm a huge fan of CLE!

I bought Atelier Art last year. I'd read really great reviews on it and was anxious to dive in. I watched a couple of lessons with my daughter, who was really bored and deflated that art was no longer a fun course. I have to admit I felt the same way. I think DD at 7 was too young for the highly structured approach re: technique and such, so I shelved it for a couple of years. We'll come back to it later. I hope it's eventually successful -- it was expensive! After doing more research we tried out and are loving Meet the Masters. We've done 6 or 7 of the lessons -- the background stories of each artist are engaging and age appropriate. They also show examples of the art throughout the narrative to draw the students into the art while learning about the artist. The projects are very well done and give the student an opportunity to create a piece that mimics the artist's style. They're structured activities with room for creativity -- helpful for my daughter who has sometimes felt stifled if lessons don't offer opportunities for creative experimentation. Each lesson (history and project) has taken us about an hour and a half if we work at a leisurely pace. We try to do art once a week, although we don't always have time. http://mtmhomeschool4art.com/page/detail/about-us/

Below are 2 collections of character stories: Valuetales Treasury Worthy is the Child I also recommend Story Time with Grandma, available from Christian Light Publications.

We used Prima Latina and loved it. Gentle introduction to Latin, but covers quite a bit.

We are using MP core this year but have swapped CLE math for R&S math and use an alternate spelling program. I've tried a few different ways to easily customize the curriculum manual, including scanning it in and attempting to use OCR in Acrobat. Acrobat was unable to process scanned text, so I couldn't edit the text after scanning it. After monkeying around for a bit, I decided to give in and go old school with my changes to the manual. I have a box of 1x3 sticky labels and place them over the course I'd like to cover, cutting to size if needed. I just write my own lessons in pen on the labels. Although this took me a bit to customize the manual the other night, I think it's still such a luxury to have the curriculum manual in the first place vs. creating the entire plan myself from scratch. Since we use the majority of MP core courses with just a few substitutions, it was worth the time to tweak it to match our customizations. I love being able to open the book in the morning, see today's plan, and check the boxes as we complete classes. Easy breezy!

Another vote for Bible Study Guide for All Ages. The stories are age appropriate and the lessons have engaging activities to keep the kids entertained. My daughter learned a great deal from these lessons. I think they dovetail nicely with AWANA. The music CD is excellent too!

Memoria Press has a forum at http://forum.memoriapress.com/ I've posted a few questions that and received very rapid, helpful responses from administrators as well as other users. Might be a good place to post your question.

We've been loving Meet the Masters. It introduces a different artist in each lesson, then walks students through imitating the artist's techniques and creating a full independent project. I love that it tells a story of the artist's life while the student is looking at samples of the artist's work (it occasionally uses background music as well). It's a nice combination of art appreciation without getting too dry, and art technique without being overly structured. DD's really enjoyed it and so have I. We do it about once a week as each lesson ends up taking us about an hour and a half if we don't rush it. http://mtmhomeschool4art.com/page/detail/about-us/

Have you looked into Nancy Larson science or Rainbow Science? We're currently using Nancy Larson Science 3 as a supplement to MP's core and thus far I've been really impressed with the amount it covers, as well as the scripted nature of it (I don't have a science background and find this very comforting). Each lesson typically takes only 20 minutes or so. There's a level 4 available as well if 3 seems too low-level for your daughter. I've seen many positive reviews of Rainbow Science as well (although I haven't personally seen it), and it's specifically targeted toward jr. high age kids. Their website seems like it has a lot of sample materials and such.

One more thought. I had trouble getting DD to move past counting on her fingers as well and found Reflex Math to be a godsend. It's fun, and improvement in rapid computation happens very quickly. There's a version available for addition/subtraction as well as one for multiplication/division. Don't know what your budget constraints are, but it was about $30 when I used it last year.

I've found the math from Christian Light Publications (aka CLE) to be very straightforward, nuts and bolts, with practical applications for everyday life (for example, word problems that refer to measuring ingredients for a recipe). My recommendation is to take the placement test on CLE's website, see where your daughter fits, and order a couple of LightUnits at that level. They're very low-cost (between $3-4 each), so dipping your toe into these waters wouldn't cost you much. If she's able to complete the LightUnit test before completing all lessonsin a given LightUnit, move her to the next workbook. This was the recommendation I received from a user on another forum when I was looking for the appropriate level for my daughter. I admit I was a little reluctant to take the placement test because I thought it was "busy work", but I'm glad I did as I now see that the results placed her at just the right level. Good luck to you finding the right fit, whatever path you choose. How fortunate that we now have so many great options to choose from! (So much curriculum, so little time... : )

We just switched to the Memoria Press complete package this month and thus far, I'm thrilled. I know some have said that they've found the workbooks dry, but I can already see the results of the increased reading and writing demands. DD's been a reluctant independent reader (she reads fluently but would groan whenever I suggested reading on her own for pleasure) -- earlier today, she ran into the room and said "I know I always said I don't like reading, but I love it now!" Thank you, Memoria Press!

If he's taking a while to complete a speed drill (which would be an indicator that his fact recall isn't very quick), then I second the recommendation for Reflex Math. It worked wonders with my daughter. I also second the recommendation for the CLE placement tests if he hasn't already taken them. I assumed my daughter would start with 300 last year, but after the placement test, it was clear there were some areas CLE covers in 200 that DD hadn't encountered yet. DD's completing CLE 4 now and typically takes no more than 30-45 min. on each lesson. And the 45 min. sessions really only occur if it's late afternoon and she's dilly dallying. An hour seems like an awfully long time. Does it help to have him walk you verbally through the problems he's missed? Might give insight regarding the problem area (if regrouping is the issue vs. multiplication facts, etc.)

Thank you for posting all of your plans! I'm really enjoying the exposure to new curriculum choices and getting insight on the paths of others. Great to find this forum. Here's what we have planned so far (mostly MP's Core Curriculum, with a few deviations): Latin - Latina Christiana Math - CLE 4 Grammar/Spelling/Composition/Handwriting - MP Core Literature - MP Core Christian Studies - MP Core Classical Studies - D'Aulaires' Greek Myths Geography - MP Geography I Science - MP Astronomy, Nancy Larson Science 3 Spanish - Homeschool Spanish Academy